Redtemple
Once an influential race of terrestrial primates, the Redtemple Troop were all but wiped out after an extended and unprecedented military campaign against their entire region, which ultimately led to their collapse and subsequent destruction. Survivors of fallen empire were banished from the Primian Jungle and were not welcomed by humans in the Treelands nor the Wandriset of Slopeland. Forced to settle on the outskirts of Dogtribe territory and compete with feral packs, nearly every member of the species found themselves unable to adapt. Only one Redtemple man was able to survive, an outcast even among his own people, a man who was neither given a name nor cared to acquire one. He wandered alone through the Poaset plains and followed dog packs. He was never attacked nor harassed, and after living with the dogs for a few weeks he learned to communicate with them and was accepted as one of the pack. He has lived among the dogs for over 20 years now and is the undisputed alpha male of a massive feral pack. He is characteristically non-confrontational and his pack follows suit, with a far greater reconciliation and grooming rate than other feral packs. He spends his time philosophizing and studying the dogs and the clouds and the stars and his own mind. He has a vague idea about the interconnectedness of everything we can and can't see, something about anthills being tiny versions of civilization, civilizations being tiny versions of something greater, and anthills being giant versions of something much smaller. He's been working on this idea for almost 3 decades and can't quite put it into words. Etymology The term Redtemple is a reference to the distinct coloring on the side of the heads of adult males. After the species was all but wiped out, the sole survivor became the bearer of the name, often called "Redtemple the dog" or simply "Redtemple" History The Silent Age Before the Primians had developed a common language, when the jungle troops were still fiercely tribal and isolated by a century of warfare and raids, the Redtemple were visited by the first humans to encounter Iribesk. The humans quickly recognized the Redtemple as sentient and as having a culture, and intended to remain for a few weeks in order to learn and share all that they could. The humans had never spoken to another species before, and the excitement blinded them to the region's political climate. They did not know that the jungle was inhabited by dozens upon dozens of sentient primates (not to mention suspiciously clever and organized flocks of canopy birds), and they did not realize that by teaching the Redtemple how to pull metal from the earth, how to maximize food production, and how to organize their leadership would change the course of the entire continent's history. Within a few months, the Redtemple had transformed their society from a defensive herd of herbivores trying to hold out against constant attack into the most technologically superior organization on the continent. They replaced wooden spears and bone clubs with iron, they organized their Troop into a para-military organization and began enslaving their long-time rivals on all sides. The first Primian empire began to spread across the jungle, and it was not until an alliance was formed in resistance that the Redtemple showed any sign of slowing. They conquered and enslaved tens of thousands of primates and ruled the jungle for about 5 years. The Spoken Age As the Redtemple rampaged, the humans began to piece together the situation and made many attempts to escape, but were never able to make it out of Redtemple territory. It was not until the first inter-species alliance was solidified between the Bluecape Troop and the Crownhorn that the Redtemple were spread thin enough to allow the human's escape. This was the beginning of the Redtemple downfall, and after a series of defeats at the hands of the alliance the rest of the jungle began to make their moves against their oppressors. In less than a month after the human's escape, nearly all the sentient primates of the jungle were working together for the first time in their species' histories to vanquish their common foe, and after two months, the Redtemple were being systematically executed or exiled. The Written Age In the written age there is only one remaining Redtemple. He doesn't know how to write but he is visited often by a human trader that brings sweets and whistles in exchange for stories and ideas. Through these transcripts, many schools of thought have been formed and expanded on, and Redtemple the Dog is considered one of histories greatest and most peculiar minds.